Railway crossing



Nov. 21, 1967 P. SPEER RAILWAY CROSSING Filed Oct. 22, 1965 INVENTOR.

PAUL SPEER United States Patent 3,353,747 RAILWAY CROSSING Paul Speer, Dallas, Tex., assignor to Speer Filler Strip Company, a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 502,235 Claims. (Cl. 238-8) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a new and improved rail crossing. The invention relates particularly to a rail crossing adapted to allow vehicles with small diameter wheels to cross railway tracks at right angles without shock or damage to the small wheeled vehicle. The invention involves an elastic strip placed between the railway bed Kand the rail so as to support, to some extent, the weight born by the wheel of the vehicle crossing the railway track.

In some respects this invention is an improvement on the railway crossing set forth in my Patent No. 2,950,057 dated Aug. 23, 1960.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved crossing which will permit vehicles having Wheels of small diameter, particularly such Wheels which are solid, to pass transversely over railway crossings Without any substantial shock.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a crossing which will permit the elastic strip to flex and be depressed when a flanged wheel passes longitudinally of the rail, and which at the same time will avoid any permanent deformation of the strip, so that when the flanged wheel has passed the strip will without fail resume its former shape and position. Yet another object is to provide such a crossing which will drain easily and avoid being clogged with dirt and foreign materials.

Further and additional objects of the invention will become apparent as this specification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a section of my improved crossing structure showing the parts in expanded relationship for purposes of illustration; and

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view showing the improved crossing installed in connection with a paved roadbed.

As illustrated, a rail 10 of the type in common use, is supported on ties 11, one of which is shown in each of the figures of the drawing. Beside and spaced from the rail is the roadbed formed of paving material 12. The metal strip or plate 13 abuts the paving material and has the anchor elements 14 extending laterally into the paving material so as to secure this plate 13 in place. This plate 13 has its top edge approximately even with the top of the rail, or in other words, the top edge of the plate is in substantially the same horizontal plane as the top of the rail. The bottom edge of the plate rests on the tie 11.

A bottom plate 15, suitably made of steel, has its one edge secured as by welding, to the inside of the plate 13, and its other edge extends laterally to the center portion of the rail so as to serve as a spacing element. Preferably, the bottom plate 15 is spaced upwardly from the tie. It forms the bottom Wall for supporting the filler strip 16.

The side plate 13, and the bottom plate 15 provide 3,353,747 Patented Nov. 21, 1967 "ice respectively side and bottom walls which form with the side of the rail an elongated narrow passage into which the flange of the railway car wheel passes.

The resilient strip 16 may be formed of any suitable resilient material such as rubber or rubber-like material. I prefer to employ a synthetic rubber which is oil-resistant and corrosion-resistant. I may use polychloroprene rubber, fluorocarbon or silicone rubbers or polyethylene, polybutadiene, polyisoprene or GR-S rubbers.

Resiliency is usually determined in terms of durometer value. The resiliency of the strip 16 employed according to the present invention preferably has a durometer value between 45 and 60, for example, from 55 to 60.

Opening at the top side of the resilient strip is a longitudinal channel 17. This channel extends downwardly into the strip for something like about half its height and has substantially vertical walls 20. This channel causes the strip to have U-shaped cross section with the leg 19 extending upwardly andadjacent the wall plate 13 with the inner top of the leg being slightly higher than the top of the side plate and with the height becoming less until the edge which is immediately adjacent the wall plate 13 being substantially even with the top of the wall. The leg 18 adjacent the rail extends upwardly at least as high as the top of the rail and more suitably somewhat higher than the top of the rail, such as at least inch above the top of the rail, or more suitably about inch above the top of the rail. The side of the leg 18 adjacent the rail is suitably spaced somewhat from the rail head, preferably about inch.

For securing the elastic strip in place I provide the piece 21 which fits into the bottom of the channel 17 and has spaced holes 22. The bolts 23 extend downwardly through holes 22, through aligned holes in the elastic strip and into tapped holes 24 in the bottom plate 15. When these bolts are turned down they hold the elastic strip 16 firmly in place.

As shown in the drawing I may provide a longitudinal brace for the resilient strip by securing the angle piece 25, as by welding, to the bottom plate 15 in a position where it abuts the lower part of the side of the resilient strip which is adjacent the rail, thus to hold the strip in position where it abuts the side plate 13 and is spaced somewhat from the top portion of the rail. This angle piece may be assembled on the bottom plate either before or after the attachment of the bottom plate to the side plate and before the resilient strip is put in place.

In the operation of the device, the flanged wheels of any locomotive or railway car upon passing along the rail will strike and deform the leg 18 of the filler strip, causing it to be compressed and to more or less fill the \area of the channel 17. When the flanged wheels have passed, the resiliency of the filler strip causes this leg 18 to resume its original position. This movement is facilitated by having the leg 18 of the filler strip spaced slightly from the rail head.

When a vehicle is passed transversely across the rails, the wheels of the vehicle pass, for example, across the top of the rail head, then strike and depress slightly the leg 18, and perhaps to some extent the leg 19 of the filler strip. The Wheel is supported to a large extent by the filler strip and passes smoothly over to the top of the paving, without shock.

Although the channel 17 is open at the top and may receive water therein, the water or other liquid may easily drain longitudinally .along the channel and be dis charged at the end of the filler strip. Similarly, the kneading of the filler strip by the passage of vehicles thereacross serves to pass dust and foreign matter along the channel where it may pass out at the ends of the strip.

While this invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many changes can be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention.

1- claim:

1. An improved rail crossing comprising, in combination, a rail providing a guide for a flanged wheel, a side wall disposed parallel to said rail, a bottom wall forming with said side wall and said rail an elongated narrow space into which the wheel flange passes, an elongated elastic strip disposed lengthwise in said space and resting on said bottom Wall, said strip having therein a longitudinal channel opening at its top side, said strip having substantially U-shaped cross section with legs extending upwardly on both sides of said channel, each of said legs extending at least'as high as the top of said rail.

2. An improved rail crossing as set forth in claim 1 wherein said legs of the strip extend at least inch above the top of said rail.

3. An improved rail crossing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the leg of said strip adjacent said rail extends at least 4 inch above the top of saidrail.

4. An improved rail crossing as set forth in claim 1 including a longitudinal angle piece abutting the lower portion of the side of the elastic strip which is'adjacent the rail, said piece being secured to said bottom wall.

5. An improved rail crossing as set forth in claim 1 including a bolt extending downwardly from the bottom of the channel and having its extended end secured to said bottom wall.

6. An improved rail crossing as set forth in claim 1 including a piece extending longitudinally in the bottom of said channel, and means for securing said piece to one of said walls.

7. An improved rail crossing as set forth in claim 6 wherein said means includes spaced bolts which extend downwardly through said bottom wall.

8. An improved rail crossing as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bottom wall extends laterally to the midportion of saidrail and fills the area between said side wall and said rail.

9. An improved rail'crossing as set forth in claim 1 including a tie supporting said nail, wherein said side wall extends downwardly to said tie, and wherein said bottom wall is spaced upwardly from said tie and is attached to said. side wall.

10. An improved rail crossing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the side of the leg of saidstrip which is adjacent said rail is spaced from said rail so as normally to be out of contact with said rail.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 309,344 12/1884 Goodrich 238-8 2,124,247 7/1938 Fey 2388 2,950,057 8/1960 Speer 238-8 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN IMPROVED RAIL CROSSING COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A RAIL PROVIDING A GUIDE FOR A FLANGED WHEEL, A SIDE WALL DISPOSED PARALLEL TO SAID RAIL, A BOTTOM WALL FORMING WITH SAID SIDE WALL AND SAID RAIL AN ELONGATED NARROW SPACE INTO WHICH THE WHEEL FLANGE PASSES, AN ELONGATED ELASTIC STRIP DISPOSED LENGTHWISE IN SAID SPACE AND RESTING ON SAID BOTTOM WALL, SAID STRIP HAVING THEREIN A LONGITUDINAL CHANNEL OPENING AT ITS TOP SIDE, SAID STRIP HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED CROSS SECTION WITH LEGS EXTENDING UPWARDLY ON BOTH SIDES OF SAID CHANNEL, EACH OF SAID LEGS EXTENDING AT LEAST AS HIGH AS THE TOP OF SAID RAIL. 